Cold Awakenings: A story of murder, greed and love
by sueviblood
Summary: This is a story about Charlie an Joey and Aden and Belle's relationship and how each of them is affected by tragic and traumatic incidents that are happening in Summer Bay and to the towns local residents and will affect them for the rest of their days
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It had been a hectic day and Charlie was anticipating the end of her shift. For the last hour she had been looking at her wrist watch every couple of minutes; it seemed to drag for her, every minute felt like an eternity. She was trying to keep herself occupied with a tower of paperwork that had quickly accumulated on her desk in the space of her intense 8 hour early shift. Today had started bad enough with a hangover from last nights all girls outing to the Surf Club, she had planed a quiet night in, just like every single night for the past 3 and a ½ months, but had quickly escalated to some what of a crazy night out and now with the stress of today's happenings she just felt like escaping it all. Lately that's all she felt like doing; flee from her life, from her family problems, from work, from herself and the type of person she had become, and especially get away from her thoughts, but the more Charlie tried to evade her thoughts the more she pondered about everything, especially Joey. _Joey_ she thought, whilst dropping a sheet of A4 size paper down on an open file on her desk, the same paper that she had held for the past 15 minutes and glanced at and tried to read but failed miserably.

A knock on the door brings her back to reality; she picks the paper up again and tries to read it, again. She clears her throat.

"Come in"

"Senior" says Angelo as he walks towards Charlie's desk holding a brown file in his right hand, "I have the papers you've requested".

Without even looking at him she indicates with a pen she's loosely holding to drop the file on the side of her desk next to the big mountain of papers and brown, yellow and red files filled with more papers inside.

He drops it without hesitation. As he turns around to leave he stops in his tracks and takes a good look at Charlie's stressed face. He compassionately looks at her for a moment while she focuses on her paper and notices that she might be probably be feeling a bit strained and over worked. Everybody felt over worked and tired lately no thanks to the amount of incidents that had recently happened in the usually quite towns of Summer Bay and Yabee Creek. Since he had come back there had been some major occurrences that had change the attitudes of the town's residents. Irene had been arrested for the murder of Lou DeBono and there was a shark on the loose that had already killed two grown men not that long ago and now a little ten year old girl; tourism in the area had dropped and the shops and business around the beaches were eerily quiet and panic and fear had swept over the local community who lately did not venture into the waters. And today's events hadn't helped; an early morning shoot-out between two gangs in one of the piers in Yabbe Creek had left three criminals and a female passer-by dead plus another two seriously injured. Later that afternoon they had answered a call to a deserted and derelict house where a couple of teenagers had found the stiff body of an overdosed heroin junkie. There was plenty going on in the town and police station, and everything was starting to get on top of everyone. Angelo knew Charlie was probably feeling the heat a bit more than anyone else in the station since she was in charge of the two main cases and people and her superiors wanted answers to questions that didn't have answers yet.

A moment passed before Charlie realised Angelo was still standing there beside her. She quickly lowers her arms without dropping the paper she's been holding for what it feels to her like an eternity.

"Is there anything else I can do for you Constable Rosetta?" She asks coldly.

He looks down at his wrist watch "Isn't it time you went home?" he lifts his head and smiles at her "You look like you could use an early night"

"Did I ask you for your opinion?" She replies, slightly raising her voice

After quickly realising that his friendly questions and chit chat had been thrown back in his face with a short and glacial response he swiftly turns on his feet and walks out of Charlie's office.

As soon as Angelo closes the door behind him Charlie drops the paper and leaning back into her chair she lets out a long and awaited sigh. She looks at her wrist watch and realises that her shift has finished a little while ago so decides it's time to call it a day.

She puts some files back inside the cabinet behind her desk, picks up her police uniform jacket from the back of the chair she's been sitting for the past four hours and switches off the lights and shuts the door behind her as she leaves.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Charlie walks inside the Diner preoccupied with the conversation she's having into her mobile.

"So that's lasagne for VJ, Greek salad and spring rolls for Leah and you want spaghetti carbonatta."

Charlie listens carefully to Ruby's constantly changing food request while she leans on the counter and looks at the specials board to her right.

"Are you sure Rubs? You're not going to change your mind again for the zillionth time? Ok, ok, so you want …"

"Hello pet" Colleen cut's in as she walks out of the kitchen carrying a plate "you just finished your shift?" She places the plate on the table with a client in front of the counter and walks back behind the counter to serve Charlie.

"Ruby, I have to go. Colleen is ready to take my order now. I'll see you guys in a little bit". She puts the mobile back in her trouser pocket whilst still looking at the specials board, undecided on what to have for food herself.

"So you've finished your shift for the day?" repeats Colleen a little louder to get Charlie's attention.

"What?" she asks bringing herself back from her thoughts on what she'll have for dinner "oh yes. Just finished now"

"May I please have two lasagnes, one Greek salad, two spring rolls and…" takes a short pause to make her final decision "a goat's cheese salad for me"

"It's terrible the way this town is heading" declares the ever so opinionated Colleen "It's absolutely terrible, drugs, alcohol abuse, criminal gangs…"

"Can I also please have four portions of strawberry cheesecake?" Requests Charlie as she tries to keep to the subject of food.

"I remember when Lance was a toddler I could leave my door open and unlocked and I'd returned home to find everything still it's place but then…" she sighs and shakes her head in disappointment "the hippies came and…"

Charlie's mobile ring tone starts to go off. She quickly reaches into her deep pocket and pulls the noisy phone out. She looks at the screen and realises its work.

"Sorry Colleen, but I need to take this. How long is the food going to be?"

"About ten minutes pet"

She answers her phone as she starts to walk out of the Diner.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Inside her car Charlie is franticly looking for her note pad everywhere with one hand whilst with the other she still keeps her mobile close to her ear.

"Hold on a sec Watson"

As she rummages through the dashboard she notices it on the floor partially hidden, underneath the passenger seat. She instantly picks it up, pulls out a pen from her blue shirt's breast pocket and proceeds to take note of what her work colleague has to say.

"Is the coroner sure he'll be able to make it by tomorrow evening?"

"Did he say exactly what time he'd be back?"

"I need to find out if that guy died of an overdose or not. By the sounds of things and the recent evidence that you guys just found on the scene it may point to someone forcefully injecting him with the drugs"

"Find out what time he's getting back and let me know. He's going to have a busy day tomorrow. There's several corpses waiting for him at the morgue and I need to know exactly what happened to each and every single one of them"

She hangs up the phone and drops it in the passenger seat. She reclines back against her seat, rests her right arm on the driver's window and her head on her hand. Slowly she starts to rub her face with her hand as if to wipe off the stress and the days occurrences but to no avail. She looks up to the entrance of the Diner and sees a group of people making their way into the small eatery whilst another group leave and make their way towards her, towards the small car park. She follows the laughing group with her eyes as they get into a parked car on her right. As they drive away she thinks to herself how liberating it would be to just turn on the ignition and drive off somewhere, anywhere. _Anything is better than this hell_ hole she had been living in for the past three and a half months.

Suddenly a faint voice and laughter brings her back to reality, away from her tempting thoughts. She would know that voice anywhere amongst millions of voices. She recognised that laughter in a crowded and loud room. She looks to her left towards the beach where the sound came from. On that side she sees two parked cars next to hers and a lowering and breathtaking sunset. She eagerly searches around, rapidly moving her head from side to side. She notices a teenage couple making their way to the Surf Club. She looks around again but sees no one else and disappointedly leans back against her seat. Was she dreaming? Was she hearing voices? Was she going insane? The most constant thing she had been doing lately was think and dream of Joey. Nothing else had preoccupied her mind the most. With everything that had occurred lately Irene's murder charge, the shark attack, the sharp increase of the criminal activity and the murderous crime that came with it, Joey was still first and foremost in her thoughts. Charlie couldn't get rid of her even if she tried. Every time she closed her eyes she would relive the day at the wharf when Joey left her, needed to get away from her and the pain Charlie had caused her, or the day that Joey found out what a lying and deceitful cheat Charlie really was, or the memorable days they had spent together, on the boat, in her car, in her bed, or how she would still imagine sometimes Joey hadn't left and how beautiful it could have been, her kisses, her embrace, her smile, her laughter, her touch. She had become an obsession.

Suddenly Charlie notices a group of 5 men making their way to the Diner. They are loud and happy. Charlie takes a good look at them. She recognises one of them, but from where? Another one of the men stops just after passing through the small car park, turns around and looks back at the way he came from while the rest keep on making their way to the small eatery. Charlie still follows with her eyes the unnamed man who happily shares a joke with the rest of the men. As they enter the Diner she exclaims to herself.

"Oh my God!" at the sudden realization of the man's identity hits her.

"Come on Joey, I'm starving!" Shouts the man that's been left behind.

With a swift move and her jaw dropped Charlie turns her head to her left and sees the man smiling at someone. Suddenly as if out from nowhere, the person that she has so eagerly dreamt and thought of appears in front of the man who patiently waited for her. He gives her a gentle and friendly pat on the back and continue to make their way to the entrance of the Diner. Charlie can only gape in astonishment and mutter an "Oh my God!" to herself again as she sees her ex lover disappear through the doors of the Diner.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Looking intently into the horizon, with glazy and red eyes, the sorrowful Aden was too involved in his thoughts to notice Miles stroll towards him on the beach.

"Hey Aden"

"Hey" he greets back gloomily

"What are you doing here mate?" asks Miles hovering above the sitting young man "I went over to your trailer to get the rent money you owe me for the past 2 months as we agreed"

"Yeah, I'm sorry" giving a long and anticipated sigh "I just needed to get away for a while. But I have the money here"

He tilts himself slightly to his left side and with his right hand reaches into the right back pocket to produce his black leather wallet.

As Miles notices Aden's low spirits he decides to keep him company for a while to see if he can help him in any way. As he starts to sit down on the soft sand, Aden produces a handful of cash from his wallet and hands it over to the compassionate older man.

"Are you alright?" enquires Miles as he studies Aden's face searching for answers.

"I'm fine" replies with a tough façade only the desolation in his eyes giving his emotional pain away.

"You don't look fine to me"

For the first time Aden takes his eyes of the horizon for longer than a few seconds and looks at Miles with a '_what the heck do you_ _know_' stare.

"Miles, I don't mean to be rude but you got the rent money so if you don't mind can you just bugger off"

"Is that the only reason why you think I came here looking for you? I went to your caravan and the door was ajar so I went in and found the inside as if a hurricane had just passed through." proclaims the curly haired middle age man as he gives him a sympathetic look

"I was worried about you." Taking a short pause he repeats, "I'm worried about you"

The young man again looks away and hypnotically stares into the horizon where the late fiery sun is almost ready to be put out by the calm chrysocolla sea.

"Look if you don't want to talk to me that's fine, but if you do, for whatever reasons, then I hope you know I'm here. I'm a good listener but an even better joke teller, just in case you need some serious cheering up" states the man with a smile.

A small grin appears in the corner of the blonde young man's lips and then looks back at Miles who is smiling back at him which makes Aden smile back as he lets out a short and forced laugh. He springs up from the soft sand and faces his friend who slowly rises from the fine and plentiful abundance of tangerine yellow grains that spread across the delightfully scenic beach.

"I had a visit from Belle"

"I'm guessing it didn't go down too well?" sounding more like an asseveration than a question

"No. No it didn't" he replies, his face dispiriting as he begins to recall in his mind the argument and shouting he had previously had with the one person he loved the most. It tared him up inside feeling like this but he just could not help it, nor escape it, not that he tried to either.

"Look Miles, I'm sorry about the caravan." He says apologetically. "I just went a little crazy after she left; I kinda let out a bit of frustration on the furniture, I needed to let out some steam and it was just" he tries to explain but finds his words hard to come out from his mouth "I just…"

"Its fine, I understand" Miles cuts in "it was the closest thing you just found. Well, there seemed to be nothing broken so it only needs to be tidied up a bit"

"Oh don't worry; I'll do that as soon as I get back. I'm gonna grab a coffee first and then I'll make my way back to the caravan park." Nodding to Miles towards the Diner further up from the beach where they have been chatting for the last few minutes "Do you wanna go and get a coffee?"

"No I can't I'm afraid, I have to get back home and cook dinner. Kirsty is working late today at the Diner so it'll be Jai and me. Hey why don't you join us? I'm making some Green thy chicken curry" he continues, laughing a little bit now "it's got a mean kick to it." Encouroungely "Come on, you'll love it; and it'll also give you a chance to relax, unwind a bit"

"Yeah, alright. You're on mate!"

"We can play some PlayStation, have some beers and unwind"

"It's a date!" exclaims Aden as both of them laugh.

"Well, I'm off for that coffee. See you later then" and nods goodbye.

"See ya" replies Miles as both men go their separate ways.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

The crew of the '_Blue Pearl'_ was sitting at a table waiting with anticipation for the food they just ordered. They could hardly fit around the two small tables they had inadequately put together to make a larger one but content with being back on dried land after over three months at sea nothing could disappoint them this evening. They laughed and joked; they all did.

A healthy and radiant looking Joey quickly glanced over the table for a drinks menu. Finding none at her own table she reaches out for the nearest menu in one of the tables behind her. The men in the group continue with their effervescent conversation while the young woman goes over the drinks selection on the thick and colourful paper

"You're getting something else to drink?"

"I need a coffee, a really strong one" she replies to one of her colleagues' "I feel really tired and after dinner I still need to go and book myself into a motel or hotel or something"

"Why don't you stay over at my place, the spare room is there waiting for you if you want and my mum would be more than happy to have another woman around our manly house hold" request Bart, her friendly work colleague.

"I need to stand on my own two feet Bart; I have quite a bit of money saved up now after this job and I'm not going to be spending it on booze or girls or both unlike you"

"Are you sure?" questions the young dirty blond hair man, tapping her on the shoulder as he bursts into laughter.

"Oh no!" exclaims Joey shaking her head but laughing at the fact that her friend was only jokingly messing about with her. Bart had become a close friend and confidant for the last few months at sea and they had shared between the two of them close revelations about each other. He had been a shoulder to cry on and he had felt close enough to Joey to confide in her a bout some less known misadventures with the law and his family. He was a bit of a 'Jack the lad' and usually spoke more than he should and had gotten on the wrong side of the law a few times for minor misdemeanours. He regretted his encounters with the law but regretted even more the consequences of his actions had done to the relationship between him and his father.

"Oh no!" repeats the long black haired woman "No thank you. I'm not the biggest drinker, and I am definitely not wasting my money on any women"

"Well, maybe one lady in particular" he remarks with a cheeky grin.

"No!" exclaims Joey with a concerned look on her face as she smacks her cheeky colleague on the side of the arm "Don't even go there."

Her expression changes after she quickly shakes her head in disagreement and a small smile spreads across her face.

"I swear to God, the patience I have with you. And anyhow, you can't buy a woman's affection or love with money"

"No, but it certainly helps!" interrupts another colleague.

They all burst into laughter at the man's comment except for Joey who is bewildered at the fact that she can barely believe that she has managed to be patience and put up with her colleagues for the last three and a half months.

"Oh my God! You lot are incredible" she says getting up from the chair and walking towards the counter. "I'm getting an espresso; do you guys want anything else?"

As they all return an almost simultaneous "no cheers" her attention is soon placed towards the recognisable sound of a young mans voice coming from the.

"Joey?" repeating in disbelieve but at the same time full of enthusiasm "Joey?"

"Aden!" she lets out a small scream of excitement as she rushes towards the front door and hugs her good friend tightly.

"What a lovely surprise! When did you get back? Why didn't you call? " A happier looking Aden enquires.

"Just got back today, we docked about a couple of hours ago. How are you?"

"I'm alright" responds Aden trying hard to hide his true feelings "what about you?"

"I'm good. Are you still working on the same boat?"

"No. Well yes, sort of. My main job at the moment is at the main docks in Yabee Creek but I still work from time to time on the boat when they are short staffed. I need the extra money"

"Working hard I see" says a smiling Joey and then asks a bit reluctantly "and how is Belle? I remember you telling me before I left she was trying to get off drugs"

"Yeah, she's good. She's been clean for some time now" replies Aden with his sad mask back on again on his face.

Noticing this change of expression she takes some concern for her friend, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah" Aden responds unconvincingly. Looking down at the floor he informs Joey of his current relationship status "Belle and me broke up soon after you left."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know"

"I'm surprised the local megaphone hasn't informed you already" forcing a smile as he nods towards Colleen who is busy rushing from tables to kitchen serving customers inside and outside the Diner.

Joey smiles back at her friend's comment "No, she didn't mention you but she did go on about how many serious crimes have happened recently and Irene being in prison on a murder charge and Belle getting arrested as well. I was a bit shocked when she mentioned this; is it true?"

"Yeah, it's all true. There's some weird shit happening at the moment around here. Irene getting arrested for murder, Belle for perverting the course of justice, murders, shark attacks"

"Wow! That's seriously heavy stuff."

"You can say that again! Look, I need to get back to the caravan park and do a bit of tidying up in the trailer and then I need to go and have dinner at Miles but later we can meet up for a few drinks and catch up"

"You're staying at the caravan park?" asks Joey somewhat a bit surprised at this revelation.

"It's a long story, but I'll tell you all about it later"

Aden makes his way to the counter and Joey follows close behind.

"I can't make it later; I need to look for some place to stay tonight"

"Hey, there's a spare trailer at the caravan park. I'm sure I can have a word with Miles as soon as I get back to his place"

As soon as Colleen walks back again to the kitchen, carrying dirty plates, the two friends try and order their coffees from a rushed Colleen.

"Ok pet" sighs in desperation the extremely busy short hair older woman "Give us a sec and I'll be right out to make the coffees"

"Cheers Colleen" thanks a grateful Aden who is craving some caffeine.

"How about that trailer?" asks Aden turning his attention back to Joey "Do you want me to talk to Miles?"

"Alright. Thanks"

"Hey, no problem. It's my pleasure. That means we can hang out later"

Colleen comes back from the kitchen and as she starts to prepare the coffees she also starts to interrogate the young man who looks uncomfortable at the questions being thrown at him. She enquires after Belle, how her case is going and if she was back on drugs. In between questions she gives her typical remarks oblivious to Aden's feelings and how much hurt she is unintentionally inflicting on him.

"Aden, did you see Charlie outside?" she enquires as she hands the two friends their coffees "She came here to get some food to take home for dinner, I told her it would be ten minutes" glancing quickly back at the clock in the kitchen "that was almost half an hour ago"

Joey is taken aback by the unexpected mention of her past lover. Her smiley face suddenly turns serious as she swallows hard, her heart suddenly changing to a higher gear and starting to feel unsure if she was ready to face the person who had broken her heart.

"No, but then again I was in my own little world when I came in and I wouldn't have noticed the Queen of England if she had been standing right in front of me I'm afraid. I'm off now but if I see her outside I'll let her know her food is waiting"

"Oh thank you pet. If she's not back soon Kirsty is going to have to throw it away very soon. I'm sure she's been called back on duty or maybe there's been another crime or murder" Colleen suddenly becoming somewhat panicked by her own words, only a shout from Kirsty from the kitchen making her get back to work.

"Well, I better make a move but we'll chat later" says Aden as he winks at Joey but is faced instead with sadden features as she is involved in her own thoughts "You ok?"

"What?" asks Joey forcing a smile as her friends question brings her back to reality "Sorry, eh, yeah, I'll see you later"

"Thinking of anyone in particular?" queries a grinning Aden

"What? No"

"Well, I gotta dash but you can tell me all about it later"

They both raise their hands in a farewell gesture. Joey goes back to her loud work colleagues over by the table with a puzzled look on her face as Aden exist the Diner and walks past some tables at the entrance. He looks around to see if he can spot Charlie anywhere close. As he looks around he notices Charlie's blue Hyundai car in front of the Diner and inside a woman leaning on the steering wheel with her hands covering her face.


End file.
